Save fish, our economy and a way of life.

It's not just any fish that needs help these days in Washington.

It's "wild salmonids" those native salmon, trout, char, and whitefish that are part of our environment, culture, economics, and recreation. They're in serious population declines due to a host of mostly human-caused changes and pressures.

At the direction of the 1993 Washington Legislature, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has drafted a plan to recover these wild creatures and their habitat.

It's been a long time in coming because it's the most comprehensive plan yet to address all the aspects of the problem. Some of the proposed actions could change all of our lives in big or small ways because salmonids are everywhere across Washington.

WDFW is hosting the first round of public meetings in April and May to discuss this draft "Wild Salmonid Policy." The meetings are the beginning of an ongoing "grass roots" effort to build partnerships, volunteerism, and education programs to preserve our economy, quality of life, and heritage of wild salmonids.

WDFW needs your involvement in this process.

A strong Wild Salmonid Policy will guide watershed recovery plans which influence federal government decisions under the Endangered Species Act; the status of chinook, coho, chum, pink, and sockeye salmon, steelhead, cutthroat trout, and bull trout are being reviewed now, and Snake River sockeye and chinook are already listed as endangered.

The action steps proposed in this policy will not just benefit these fish. Wild salmonids are to the Northwest's ecosystems what canaries were to miners: indicators of environmental health. Measures that will help the fish will help all of us have clean and abundant water, healthy open, green space, reduced flood damage, and other benefits.

These measures require sacrifice on everyone's part and basic changes in the way we do business and live. Proposals limit where and how we build new homes and roads, graze livestock and grow crops, draw and release water for irrigation or electric power, cut and transport timber, and yes, how we raise and catch what kinds of fish.

If you're an urban dweller: Your electric bill could go up, your lawn and garden watering could be more restricted, your trips to the shopping mall could be fewer, even the shopping malls themselves may be fewer, and your plans to build that big house on the water could change. But if we maintain a healthy environment our economy will prosper.

If you're a commercial or recreational fisher: Your catch may be limited to marked hatchery fish, you may not see any more introductions of non-native fish to some waters, your seasons may be much shorter, you may even go without a season in some areas some years. But in the long term, catches will stabilize as stocks return to healthy numbers.

If you're a farmer or rancher: Your livestock may need to be fenced out of streamside and wetland areas, your irrigation may be altered in keeping with fish passage needs, you might be asked to sit on a "Farm, Fish, and Wildlife" Forum to hammer out development of and compliance with best agricultural practices. But a conservative approach will support the long term health of the agricultural economy.

In both big and small ways, your life could change if together we really want to save fish and other wildlife, as well as our own economy and quality of life.